Pneumatic tire.



UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

WALTER C. ROCHELEAU AND LOUIS T. ROOHELEAU, OF WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND.

PNEUMATIC TIRE.

hicles, and embodying simple and durable means for protecting the inflatable. tube of the tire against puncture without robbing the tire as a whole of the requisite resiliency or rendering the tire unduly heavy.

, With the foregoing in mind the invention will be fully understood from the following description and claim when the same are read in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in

whlch:

Figure 1 is a transverse section of an armored pneumatic tire constructed in accordance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal, vertical section of a portion of the tire, taken in the plane indicated by the line 2- of Fig. 1, looking toward the left.

Similar letters designate corresponding parts in both views of the drawings, referring to Which:

A is the outer covering of our novel tire. The said covering A may be made of rubber or any other material compatible with our invention, and may be held on the rim B of a Wheel in the manner illustrated or in any other approved manner.

C is the inflatable tube of the tire, which may be of rubber or any other suitable material, and D is a layer of raw hide or other tough material arranged at the inner side of the tread portionof the covering A and eX- tending along the sides of said covering about the proportional distance illustrated.

E is a band arranged at the inner side of the layer D and having for its office to preserve the curved formation of the tread of the tire. The said' band E is preferably of rubber, thoughother materials may be used in the discretion of the manufacturer; and it is of convex-plano form in cross-section and arranged with its flat side inward or remote from the tread portion of the tire.

F is a flat hoop designed to prevent nails, glass and the like from penetrating to and Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 2, 1907.

Patented Aug. 25, 1908.

Serial No. 360,165.

puncturing the infiatable tube C. The said hoop F is preferably of steel because of the strength and springiness of such material,

and it is made flat instead of concavo-convex in cross-section in order that it may retain its spring and contribute to the resiliency of thetire as a Whole while serving the additional function of protecting the infiatable tube C against'puncture. The hoop F is laid directly against the flat side of the band E, and against the inner side of the hoo is arranged a layer G, of raw hide or ot er tough material, which is riveted, sewed or otherwise strongly connected to the side portions of the layerD at points adjacent to the edges of the hoop F, as indicated by H.

From the said polnts of connection H, the' side portions of the layer G are lcarried inward along the side portions of the layer D, about the proportional distance shown in Fig. 1f

By virtue of the construction described in the foregoing, it will be seen that the band E and the hoop F are snugly incased and held against casual movement by the connected layers D and G, and hence there is no liability of the said band and hoop getting out of their proper positions relative to the other parts of the tire.

Surrounding the inflatable tube C and arranged at the inner sidesof the layers G and D and also at the inner side of the coverin A is a layer I of raw hide or other materia suitable to the purpose. This layer I is riveted, sewed or otherwise strongly connected at the points J J to the portions of the layer D which are extended beyond the layer G for the purpose, and the said layer I is sufficiently wide to entirely incase the inflatable tube -C and to have its surplus portions lapped adjacent to the Wheel rim B. These lapped portions are not connected together or secured to any other part, but they are simply laid one over the other, and hence it will be apparent that the infiatable tube C may be readily removed When necessity demands. By virtue of the layer I inclosing the inflatable tube O in the manner shown and described, it will be ap reciated that the said layer I maybe depen ed on to prevent what is termed a blow-out of the inner or infiatable tube C. Thus when the tire has become weakened from any cause Whatever land finally splits open, the layerI Will be forced into said split or open portion, closing the same, and thus preventing the in liatable tube which is under pressure from entering said open portion.

v.lt will be'gathercd from the foregoing that in addition to the ability of our improvements to lprotect 4the inflatable tube C against puncture without robbing the tire as a whole of its resiliency, our improvements are advantageous because of the facility with which the parts may be assembled andl connected together, and also because of the strengthand durability of all of the parts.

The construction herein illustratedv and described constitutes the preferred embodiment of our invention, but'it is obvious various changes in the form, construction and relative arrangement of the parts may be vmade in practice Without involving departure from the scope of our invention as deined in the appended claim.-

Having described our invention, What We ent, is: y

A pneumatic tire comprising a covering, a layer of tough material arranged against the claim and desire to secure by Letters-Pat-- y inner sideof the outer. portion of the covering, a band of resilient or springy material of convex-plano form in cross-section arranged at the mner slde of the said layer, va flat mevtallic hoop arranged against the inner flat side of the convex-plano band, a layer of tough material arranged at the inner side of the hoop and extending alongside the side portions of the first lmentioned layer and connectedy to said side portions at a point intermediate the edges thereof and the hoop,`a layer of tough material having a loop portion arranged against the second mentioned layer l `and also against the extended slde portions J Witnesses to signature of Walter C. Rocheleau: y

AUGUSTUS E, INGRA'M, BAIN L. CAMPBELL. vWitnesses to the signature of Louis T.

Rocheleau EDGAR L. SPAULDING, ISABELLE SMITH..

presence of two subscribing 

